Timing here was mainly for my schedule: after the holidays but a week before my longer trips begin. There was supposed to be a storm Sunday night but it fizzled, only 2 inches.
Jan. 7
Monday's skiing was much like admin described LCC over the weekend. With the 11+ foot snowpack there were a lot of people at Mammoth over the holidays, so most of the ungroomed terrain was heavily mogulled. Quite a contrast from December when there was so much snow and not enough people that you could hardly find a mogul if you tried. Wind effect was more scattered sastrugi rather than the usual smooth windbuff. The 2 inches only hid what was on the subsurface rather than providing flotation. One of the locals on a chair ride called it a "Colorado powder day."
Probably Monday was as much about me not skiing at my best as anything else. There was also a thin cloud layer so afternoon light up top was flat and I had to use my goggles.
After the usual warmups I skied skier's right Climax and Dave's, usually good bets on light new snow days but not so consistent Monday. I then skied 3 runs on Chair 9.
Even at low angle I was mostly skiing on the subsurface but it was still better than most of the upper runs. I moved to Chair 22, first skiing Shaft with some soft snow.
From the lift I could see Avy1 was heavily mogulled, so I skied Avy2 which was somewhat smoother. The entrance to Avy2, which was about as clean as I've ever seen it on Dec. 20, has quite a few rocks now from the holiday traffic. The same is true for the throat of Hangman's, which I did not see anyone ski these 3 days. After lunch I skied Drop Out, found I needed the goggles and then Paranoid 2, Cornice, and Wipe Out. I had gotten up early for the new snow and quit by 2:30 as I was tired after 24,400 vertical.
Jan. 8
Tuesday was clear with just a touch of upslope wind and warmer with highs in the upper 30'sF. The new snow was now packed in with the old and skied more consistently. Also with better visibility it was easier to spot smoother lines up top. But in general it's better to have a Sun Valley rather than LCC mentality in these conditions and spend the first hour or so on nicely buffed groomers. With clear skies here's what the top looks like after the holidays.
So my first run up top was groomed Cornice. Then on 23 I found some reasonably smooth lines on Drop Out 3 and the Hump. I took Climax over to Chair 5 for a few runs. For my run on Chair 22 I walked over to the top of Avy3, which had not seen much traffic but was windswept. After lunch I skied several runs on Chair 14. Dropping off the backside from the upper gondola the snow was soft and mostly smooth.
Perhaps there had been upslope wind depositing snow on 14 because the rarely covered Dos Passos was skiable.
Most of the skiing on 14 was wide open and smooth in the sun.
I finally left that area via Monument, which was mostly smooth chalk. I took one more lap on 23 to ski Paranoid 1. View from there shows its entrance more challenging than in December.
I finished up with a final gondola run over to Roma's (smoother than Dave's) and a run on 5. 28,200 vertical.
Jan. 9
The wind was blowing at the base of chair 2 when I arrived 8:15 so I thought it might be a tough day. But the windy areas were localized and only Chair 9 was closed for crosswinds. Here's the wind above Chair 23:
As on Tuesday I spent the first hour+ on groomers. Then I skied skier's left Climax, Cornice and Drop Out 3. Next gondola I went around the upper rock ledge and traversed into Huevos above the scattered rocks partway down.
Snow was decent up there with a bit of wind deposition on the lower apron. I then skied chair 5 a bit, where there was also some blown-in snow.
I cruised down to Canyon and while riding chair 16 saw a skier emerge from Sneaker Right into Avy2. So I took 22 up to check that out. The approach through stunted trees is somewhat tedious but the chute itself had very soft snow as it is infrequently skied.
I took one more run up top on Drop Out, following the lower lift line of 23 where there was some wind deposited snow. I quit at 12:40 after 23,700 vertical to get home before dinner.
On an absolute scale 3 days of full operation at Mammoth with 90+% packed powder conditions and 76K vertical is a nice trip. My nitpicking is surely due to being very spoiled by those 8 days in December.
Jan. 7
Monday's skiing was much like admin described LCC over the weekend. With the 11+ foot snowpack there were a lot of people at Mammoth over the holidays, so most of the ungroomed terrain was heavily mogulled. Quite a contrast from December when there was so much snow and not enough people that you could hardly find a mogul if you tried. Wind effect was more scattered sastrugi rather than the usual smooth windbuff. The 2 inches only hid what was on the subsurface rather than providing flotation. One of the locals on a chair ride called it a "Colorado powder day."
Probably Monday was as much about me not skiing at my best as anything else. There was also a thin cloud layer so afternoon light up top was flat and I had to use my goggles.After the usual warmups I skied skier's right Climax and Dave's, usually good bets on light new snow days but not so consistent Monday. I then skied 3 runs on Chair 9.
Even at low angle I was mostly skiing on the subsurface but it was still better than most of the upper runs. I moved to Chair 22, first skiing Shaft with some soft snow.
From the lift I could see Avy1 was heavily mogulled, so I skied Avy2 which was somewhat smoother. The entrance to Avy2, which was about as clean as I've ever seen it on Dec. 20, has quite a few rocks now from the holiday traffic. The same is true for the throat of Hangman's, which I did not see anyone ski these 3 days. After lunch I skied Drop Out, found I needed the goggles and then Paranoid 2, Cornice, and Wipe Out. I had gotten up early for the new snow and quit by 2:30 as I was tired after 24,400 vertical.
Jan. 8
Tuesday was clear with just a touch of upslope wind and warmer with highs in the upper 30'sF. The new snow was now packed in with the old and skied more consistently. Also with better visibility it was easier to spot smoother lines up top. But in general it's better to have a Sun Valley rather than LCC mentality in these conditions and spend the first hour or so on nicely buffed groomers. With clear skies here's what the top looks like after the holidays.
So my first run up top was groomed Cornice. Then on 23 I found some reasonably smooth lines on Drop Out 3 and the Hump. I took Climax over to Chair 5 for a few runs. For my run on Chair 22 I walked over to the top of Avy3, which had not seen much traffic but was windswept. After lunch I skied several runs on Chair 14. Dropping off the backside from the upper gondola the snow was soft and mostly smooth.
Perhaps there had been upslope wind depositing snow on 14 because the rarely covered Dos Passos was skiable.
Most of the skiing on 14 was wide open and smooth in the sun.
I finally left that area via Monument, which was mostly smooth chalk. I took one more lap on 23 to ski Paranoid 1. View from there shows its entrance more challenging than in December.
I finished up with a final gondola run over to Roma's (smoother than Dave's) and a run on 5. 28,200 vertical.
Jan. 9
The wind was blowing at the base of chair 2 when I arrived 8:15 so I thought it might be a tough day. But the windy areas were localized and only Chair 9 was closed for crosswinds. Here's the wind above Chair 23:
As on Tuesday I spent the first hour+ on groomers. Then I skied skier's left Climax, Cornice and Drop Out 3. Next gondola I went around the upper rock ledge and traversed into Huevos above the scattered rocks partway down.
Snow was decent up there with a bit of wind deposition on the lower apron. I then skied chair 5 a bit, where there was also some blown-in snow.
I cruised down to Canyon and while riding chair 16 saw a skier emerge from Sneaker Right into Avy2. So I took 22 up to check that out. The approach through stunted trees is somewhat tedious but the chute itself had very soft snow as it is infrequently skied.
I took one more run up top on Drop Out, following the lower lift line of 23 where there was some wind deposited snow. I quit at 12:40 after 23,700 vertical to get home before dinner.
On an absolute scale 3 days of full operation at Mammoth with 90+% packed powder conditions and 76K vertical is a nice trip. My nitpicking is surely due to being very spoiled by those 8 days in December.